The Best of British will be celebrated all around Crowthorne next year as it has been chosen as the theme for the 2012 Crowthorne Carnival.

Villagers are encouraged to embrace everything red, white and blue to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics as the biennial event returns from July 7-15.

To follow on from the success of the 2010 carnival, the committee has come up with new ideas for 2012 including a Facebook page, a treasure hunt in the grounds of Wellington College and a video diary of carnival preparations, filmed by Edgbarrow pupils.

Carnival committee chairman Ken Newland said: “We all had a bit of a brainstorm session and we hadn’t realised just how popular it was going to be.

“It just seems to be snowballing and I hope we can still find ideas for the next few months.”

A number of business owners and residents attended the committee’s annual meeting at Crowthorne Parish Hall on Tuesday, October 18, where Mr Newland made a plea to find corporate sponsors for next year’s event.

He said: “I have had some meetings with Broadmoor Hospital and they are keen to have a relationship with the local community.

“In the past the hospital has provided prizes and they have produced some good signage that we put on the field.

“They are now looking to repeat that for next year’s carnival, but also they are looking to see if they can use a patch of land at the hospital to transform into a front garden entry.

“Wellington College have been noticeable by their absence because they break up and the children go home before the carnival begins, but we have been talking to them about having a treasure hunt in the grounds the day after the carnival, and that has been given permission.”

He added: “Some years ago our son did a video of the carnival work and we have asked Edgbarrow School if their kids who are doing photography would like to do a video diary and come up with some stills, and they seem to be quite excited about that.

“The idea of them having several people taking videos of the carnival as it comes together and then editing it into a short piece as a record is fantastic.”

Homeowners were encouraged to start getting their garden into shape for the front garden competition, and the final of the Carnival Princess competition will now take place in the parish hall in Heath Hill Road South, instead of the John Nike Leisuresport Complex to make the event even more local.

During the meeting visitors heard from previous procession winners about the carnival.

Former winner Carolyn Elliott, from Oaklands Schools, said: “Being involved in the 2010 carnival was my first major project at Oaklands Schools.

“In 2008 the schools got second prize and we were really pleased, but we wanted to see whether we could do better.

“We thought giving the children more control would be good, so we ran a competition for the children to design the float itself on the theme of ‘dances around the world’.

“The children could choose to be one of five different dancers and we ran after-school sessions to make flags. Children who couldn’t attend were given packs to take home.”

She added: “The project gathered momentum and on the day we had 100 children involved.

“Everyone was really excited and it was great to see the hard work of the past few months come together, but winning was the icing on the cake.

“We all felt extremely proud and happy as we were walking down to the High Street. We are looking forward to being part of the 2012 carnival.”

The committee is looking for stewards and anyone who has contacts for trucks or lorries for people to use as floats. It is also looking to put together a post-carnival tidy up team to pick up litter from the field, and anyone who would like to hold an affiliated event to run during carnival week.